


lonely hearts club

by perihelion (mattratat)



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Confessions, Fluff and Angst, Getting Together, M/M, Modern AU, Pining Sora, but it takes place during summer, but it's..., film school au, mutual pining baybey, werewolf romcom? werewolf romcom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-26
Updated: 2019-06-26
Packaged: 2020-05-20 10:30:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19374892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mattratat/pseuds/perihelion
Summary: Being in love with your best friend isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Actually, it really, really fucking sucks.Sora knows that better than anyone.





	lonely hearts club

**Author's Note:**

> first, huge thanks to [soup](https://twitter.com/spookysoupyy) for beta-ing this (u mean the world to me!!) and to everyone who screamed about pining sora with me on twitter!!! this oneshot is for y'all
> 
> now, onto the pining shit-

The thing about being in love with your best friend is that it really, really fucking sucks. 

 

Sora knew this as fact and had for several years now, considering he was one of the poor fools who had to fall for their best friend. 

 

If he had to pinpoint when he fell in love with Riku, he would probably come up with a million and two little things, little moments that had made him fall head over heels in love. There was no one particular moment that he could think of. He just, for at least as long as he could remember, had always been in love with him. 

 

Maybe he hadn’t always been aware of it, sure. That much was fair and he  _ could _ tell you the moment when he realized how hopelessly in love with Riku he was. That was easy. He’d been sixteen and had the distinct thought that he’d like to marry Riku some day and it all went downhill from there. It was a bottomless pit of love and sadness, anger and joy, and the occasional shred of jealousy and bitterness. 

 

Still, Riku was his best friend and, honestly, the best thing that had ever happened to Sora. He would follow him to the ends of the earth without ever having to be asked. He’d do anything to see Riku’s reserved, but sweet, smile. 

 

Really, loving him was both the best and worst thing that had ever happened to Sora. 

 

So maybe being in love with your best friend wasn’t so awful after all. Maybe it was just when your best friend just didn’t love you the same way that it really fucked you up. 

 

Sora pressed his face into his pillow and screamed. The pillow muffled most of it, but it did make him feel a little better. 

 

He couldn’t even scream for all that terribly long, because it was soon drowned out by the sound of his phone ringing, at nine o’clock on the dot, like it almost always had since Riku had left. 

 

Sora was answering it before he even realized it. 

 

“Hey, Riku!” He was saying, as he did every night for the past few weeks that he’d spent missing Riku. 

 

“Hey, Sora,” the soft voice answered on the other end. He sounded happy, which lifted Sora’s self pitying spirits a little. “What’s up?”

 

“Same old, same old,” Sora said, forcing a short laugh. “I cleaned the apartment today, so that was exciting.” 

 

“Wow,” Riku said, sounding genuinely surprised. In his defense, he did usually do most of the cleaning around their tiny place, but while he was gone, Sora had finally taken it upon himself to tidy up, lest he drown in his own filth. “That’s impressive.” 

 

“Mhmm,” Sora said, rolling onto his side. “How’s the shoot going?”

 

“It’s awesome, Sora,” Riku started and he could practically hear the grin in his voice. “Everyone’s been really nice so far. They even gave me more lines, so I guess they like me.”

 

_ Of course they do _ , Sora thought. Everyone who met Riku fell in love with him, at least a little bit. 

 

“You guess?” Is what Sora actually said, laughing under his breath. “It sure sounds like it.”

 

“Well,” Riku said, sheepish tone creeping into his voice now. “I’m not going to question it either way. Lines are lines. I need it for my reel.”

 

As if, Sora wanted to say, but he didn’t dare. Riku could pretty much walk onto any set and be handed a part, really. He was shy, at first, but that made him the kind of humble that directors just adored in their actors. Riku was the only acting student who was already getting movie gigs, because of course he was. Not to mention, he was a fantastic actor, and had the looks of a man born to be a movie star. Sora had been jealous of him, once upon a time, for being so goddamn good looking. 

 

(He still kinda was, but that was neither here nor there.) 

 

“Sure, Riku,” he said, staring up at his ceiling. 

 

“So how’s your feature going?” Riku asked, never one to talk about himself for long. 

 

Sora grimaced at the question. Despite it being summer, the grind never seemed to stop when it came to film school. He’d told Riku that he wanted to write at least one feature this summer and Riku, ever the good friend, wanted to know all about it. 

 

Once, he’d called Sora his favorite writer. Sora had cried. 

 

“Every time I try to start it, I just end up writing a short instead,” he said with a sigh. Sora liked writing shorts, but outside of film festivals, they weren’t really going to get him anywhere. A feature was what he needed to really break into the industry, or so his professors told him. He’d written three, but he had classmates who’d written four or five by now. He felt like he was losing the race already and they weren’t even competing for jobs yet. 

 

“Shorts are good,” Riku said kindly, even though he understood Sora’s frustration. He’d listened to enough of Sora’s rants about screenwriting by now to understand. “What’s it about?”

 

“I don’t know,” Sora said with a groan. “First I thought I wanted to write a comedy, but then I rewatched  _ Indiana Jones _ and now I want to write that.”

 

Riku was laughing at him on the other end of the line, but it wasn’t an unkind laughter like it would have been once upon a time. “That’s understandable. Can I be in it if you do? I’ve always wanted to try those kinds of stunts.”

 

Duh. As if that was even a question. 

 

“I guessssssss,” Sora said, dragging the words out.

 

“Thanks,” Riku said.

 

The conversation slowly moved away from work for a little while, which Sora was grateful for. He loved what he did, or was trying to do, but he just wanted to listen to the sound of Riku’s voice for a little while without being stressed about his future career. 

 

Riku talked for some time about how he’d befriended a stray cat that kept wandering onto the set and how he’d started to call it Vanitas, after Sora’s cousin, because they both had the same feral energy. He’d sworn Sora to secrecy about it, because they both knew that Vanitas would absolutely run Riku over with his old, rusty car if he found out about it, telling him he’d send pictures of the cat in exchange for Sora’s silence. Sora, of course, agreed, but decided he’d probably still tell Vanitas about it later. 

 

In return, Sora caught him up on everything he’d been missing in their college town. About the customers at the coffee shop that Sora thought were interesting and how Ventus had to get glasses and about how Vanitas had thought it was the funniest thing ever and wouldn’t stop calling him four eyes, like a preschooler. 

 

“Like, he seriously won’t stop,” Sora said, laughing a little at the memory. “It was funny at first but I think Ventus might actually kill him.” 

 

“Wouldn’t it be easier to just break up with him?” Riku asked.

 

“Probably, but you know how they are,” Sora said. Ventus and Vanitas had been inseparable since the day they met, fighting or not. They were an old married couple before they even started dating. 

 

“Good point,” Riku agreed.

 

Silence fell over them for a long pause. Silence with Riku was never uncomfortable, but Sora’s chest felt tight with the need to fill it anyways. 

 

Riku broke it first, saying, “I miss you. All of you.”

 

“You’ll be back before you know it,” Sora said. “How many more days left?”

 

He knew the answer, but he asked anyways.

 

“Three,” Riku said. “Three to go.”

 

“That’s nothing,” Sora scoffed. “Blink of an eye.”

 

Every day he’d spent missing Riku had been something like agony, but he’d never admit it. It was easier to be flippant about it.

 

Still, he had to say, “But I miss you, too. Come home already.”

 

“I’ll be back before you know it,” Riku said, parroting Sora’s words back at him. “Blink of an eye.”

 

“Shut up,” Sora muttered, rubbing his eyes, yawning. 

 

“Tired already?” 

 

Sora pulled the phone away from his ear, checking the clock. Jeez. “It’s already eleven here, Riku. I’m tired.”

 

“I always forget about the time difference,” Riku admitted, sounding like he was a million miles away. “It’s only nine here.”

 

“I know,” Sora said. “Ugh, I have to get up at, like, five for work. I’m going to bed.” 

 

“Good night, Sora,” Riku said.

 

Sora smiled, closing his eyes for a moment, letting Riku’s words in one ear and out the other. “Good night, Riku.”

 

There was a click as Riku hung up the phone, but Sora couldn’t bring himself to pull it away from his ear just yet. 

 

As he rolled over to turn his lamp off, he sighed.

 

“Good night, I love you,” he whispered into the darkness, closing his eyes. 

 

* * *

 

Despite being a morning person, Sora was still a zombie before six in the morning or, at the very least, a strong cup of coffee. 

 

Thankfully, he worked at a small coffee shop near campus, so he had access to caffeine as soon as he rolled through the door.

 

The backdoor was already unlocked, which meant that Sora was technically late, but since they didn’t open for another ten minutes, he wasn’t too worried about it. His boss was pretty chill and, really, there just weren't enough people around during the summer to give them a morning rush. He could take his time brewing the coffee and getting the daily cleaning done.

 

“You’re late,” a voice called to him as he pushed the door open, obnoxiously cheerful and singsong-y. 

 

Sora played along, because he always did, “God, you won’t believe how terrible traffic was today. Backed up for miles.”

 

Axel whistled in fake appreciation. “Oh, I bet. Now clock in so I can unlock the doors.”

 

Even though they didn’t officially open until six, Axel liked to unlock the doors early. He always said that the most interesting customers came in before the sun had completely risen. Sora had to admit, he was right about that. Their strangest customers always came in before six. 

 

He punched in on the register, giving Axel the thumbs up to open the doors. 

 

Sora had worked for Axel ever since he was a freshman. He’d walked in and Axel had looked him up and down and said, “ _ You have killer puppy dog eyes. Good for selling coffee. Need a job?” _ Sora, who had been walking in to apply for a job, accepted on the spot. He hadn’t started working summers until he and Riku had gotten their apartment sophomore year, but he preferred it infinitely to working during the school year. He liked being full time and getting to know the summer regulars, all locals or upperclassmen, even if it was time consuming. The more interesting people he met throughout the day, the more inspired to write he’d be when he finally went home. Also, rent was expensive in Radiant Gardens, and not as everyone could be as rich as Riku. 

 

Truth be told, he adored Chakram's coffee. Axel had only opened it a few years ago, but it had already become a town staple. Sora prided himself on having helped with the decorating of the place. It had been a pretty barebones before he started, but now it felt a little bit like home, thanks to his and Axel’s efforts, along with the occasional help from Axel’s husband, and eventually Roxas and Xion once they’d been hired. 

 

As he began to make himself a drink, he looked around the place, admiring their work fondly. It had the air of an old place, despite being relatively new. The walls especially gave it its vintage feel; old, red bricks, covered in pieces from local artists and origami stuck all over them. The origami had been Sora’s idea, sort of, since nobody bought the newspaper from them, anyways, and they’d been super dead one day soon after he’d started. He’d made so many cranes that Axel had threatened to fire him if he didn’t start cleaning something, but when Sora wasn’t looking, his boss had started to tape them to the walls. He said it made the place more unique. 

 

Tall windows were the main source of light during the day, at least for the first floor, and couches were shoved against the walls in case someone didn’t want to be cramped up at a table. It was a place people came to hang out with friends, to get work done, and just to enjoy a few peaceful hours of quiet sometimes. Sora himself frequented it even on his days off, usually dragging Riku in to sit on the couches with him when their class breaks lined up. 

 

It took a few minutes, but as soon as he finished making his own iced latte, there was a chime as their first customer entered.

 

Sora looked up to greet them, a grin spreading across his face as he recognized deep red hair and a pink jacket. 

 

“You know we’re not open yet,” Sora pointed out, even though he was thrilled to see the best friend he  _ wasn’t _ in love with.

 

Kairi waved her hand dismissively at him. “Yeah, right. I saw Axel unlock the doors, this is fair game.”

 

“So what’re you doing up so early?” He asked as he started to make her regular: a large caramel macchiato with caramel cold foam on top. 

 

“More like up so late,” she admitted, yawning. Just looking at her made Sora feel tired for her. Kairi wasn’t much of a morning person, but she pulled more all nighters than everyone else Sora knew combined. “I was working on a story to show Larxene today and I just couldn’t get the lead right.” 

 

Sora nodded, sympathetic even if he barely understood what that meant. Larxene was Kairi’s boss at _the_ _Hollow,_ the campus pop culture magazine. Sora didn’t get much about journalism, but he supported her anyways. He hadn’t missed a single issue since she’d started there. 

 

“What’s it about?” He asked.

 

Kairi’s eyes lit up in the way that they only ever did when she was excited about an article. Sora finished up her drink as she talked to him about whatever the hell a listicle was and how it was for a new season of a TV show that was really popular right now and how proud she was of her clever title. 

 

“But, yeah, I told Larxene I’d meet with her at eight so can I just hang out here with you until then?” She asked, giving him big puppy dog eyes despite knowing that she didn’t need to. 

 

“Duh,” Sora said. He loved having friends around while he worked, she knew that. “Just don’t let Axel catch you or he might put you to work.”

 

“Yeah, yeah,” she said, waving her hand dismissively and sipping on her drink. “He can try, but he’s just a big softie.”

 

Sora, who had seen Axel threaten to set rude customers on fire on more than one occasion, snorted at that. She had a point, though; Axel had always had a soft spot for Kairi. Said she reminded him of an old friend of his. 

 

“Your funeral,” he said. He nodded towards her slowly disappearing drink. “‘Nother one?”

 

“God, yes please,” she said. “The more espresso the better.” 

 

“Amen,” Sora said. He took a sip of his latte, grabbing her glass back. Axel only ever let him use paper cups for to go customers, saying it was better for the environment if they used real glasses for the stay in orders. 

 

“Say, when’s Riku getting back?” Kairi asked, leaning on the counter as Sora worked. “I miss him.” 

 

“Thursday,” Sora answered immediately. “He still hasn’t told me what time.”

 

“He’s driving, isn’t he?” was her follow up question. 

 

“Yeah,” Sora said, pouring extra caramel drizzle onto her drink. She beamed at him as he slid it across the counter. 

 

“Probably late then. Arendalle is a long ways away,” she said.

 

“Tell me about it,” Sora pouted. 

 

The door chimed again, and Sora once again looked up to greet the customer only to be met with a familiar face.

 

“‘Sup, shitheads?” Vanitas snapped, but the bite in his voice was kind of killed by his yawn. 

 

Sora glanced at the clock hanging on the wall, then out at the first rays of sunshine forming outside. “Isn’t it a little late for you to be out? Sun’s coming up.” 

 

Vanitas flipped him off. “For the record, I just woke up.” 

 

“Coffin not cozy enough?” Kairi asked, so Vanitas flipped her off, too. 

 

It was something of a running joke between their friend group that Vanitas was a vampire, albeit a bad one, and they refused to let it go. Between the pale skin, jet black (and clearly dyed) hair, and goth aesthetic, it was just too easy. Their insults today were pretty terrible, but Sora blamed it on the early hour. He could probably do better with time to wake up. 

 

“I’ll kill both of you,” he said. 

 

“Good luck,” Sora replied. “So what does Ventus want?” 

 

“Chai latte,” Vanitas answered. “Throw in a shot of blond, too. He’s grouchy.”

 

Sora nodded and got to work brewing the espresso. It wasn’t uncommon for Ventus to send Vanitas to the coffeeshop first thing in the morning if he was up all night working on a project, even during the summer. His regular insomnia would have been worrying if they weren’t all so used to it. He was the only one who could stay up for more days in a row than Kairi. 

 

Sora glanced to the back to make sure Axel was in the office before starting Ventus’ drink. He had a bad habit of never charging his friends for their drinks and Axel didn’t mind, so long as he didn’t catch him. 

 

“What’s he working on?” Sora asked, mostly to keep the conversation going. 

 

Vanitas shrugs. “Beats me. All of that animation shit just goes right over my head. He was trying to rig a walk cycle last I asked, but when I looked over his shoulder this morning the damn drawing was dancing, so who knows.” 

 

From Sora’s knowledge, Ventus wanted to be a 2D animator, but was forcing himself to learn 3D programs just to make himself marketable. Sora kind of wished he had that sort of willpower because if he had to do anything other than write, he became completely useless. 

 

The door went off again, indicating Sora’s first actual customer of the day, so he left Kairi and Vanitas to chat with each other. 

  
  


The next two days seemed to drag on at an unprecedented rate. Sora wasn’t sure time had ever gone so slow before in his life, but then again, he was probably just being dramatic. Normally, time never seemed to go this slow, but with Riku only a few days away, it was dragging like never before.

 

When he left work and headed home Wednesday afternoon, he tried to write, but it was completely in vain. He just ended up staring at a page that only said “EXT. PARK- NIGHT” for half an hour before giving up and booting up Riku’s PS4. 

 

Thursday wasn’t much better because he spent his entire shift checking the clock. Eventually, Axel started to catch on and sent him home because he wasn’t getting any work and normally Sora would have protested that, but he was so antsy that every moment he spent at the coffeeshop was driving him insane. 

 

Home wasn’t much better. At least Riku had finally texted him back, saying he’d be back around seven if the traffic gods cooperated. That left Sora with about five hours with  _ nothing _ to do, which was how he ended up cleaning the apartment for the second time that week. 

 

The apartment was a source of pride for both him and Riku. It was small, as most of the apartments in Radiant Gardens were, but they preferred to think of it as cozy. And, really, it was infinitely better than living in the dorms and sharing a bathroom with sixteen other people, so Sora had no complaints. 

 

The living room was Sora’s favorite part. In reality, it was half living room and half kitchen, but it worked great for them. They’d shoved a TV and the playstation against one wall, leading to several burnt dinners as they started cooking in the kitchen and got distracted by the latest titles. The walls were covered in photos of them and their friends, thrown up in no discernable pattern. It was glorious chaos, the pair of them being the only thing that held consistency amongst the mayhem. The oldest was a photo of Sora, Riku, and Kairi, all in wetsuits and beaming with boards in their hands. They couldn’t have been older than eight in that one. The most recent photo was a group selfie from just a few days before Riku had left for Arendalle. Most of the gang was in it: Sora, Riku, Kairi, Xion, Roxas, Vanitas and Ventus, and Namine were all present and grinning. 

 

Sora’s favorite, though, was the one of him and Riku right beside the window. It was a selfie from Sora’s twenty-second birthday party. Riku was taking the photo, Sora pressed against his side. Neither of them were actually looking at the camera, too busy grinning at each other. 

 

The apartment was filled with small things like that, from the small trinkets Riku brought back whenever he went anywhere to the little gifts Sora had made him throughout the years. It was their home and Sora loved every inch of it. 

 

By the time Sora finally finished cleaning, it was only five o’clock. He audibly groaned as he fell backwards onto the couch, eyes staring straight up at the ceiling. 

 

He could make dinner, he supposed, but it would be pointless to start it now; it’d be cold by the time Riku got home.

 

Two hours to go. 

 

Sora was really starting to wonder when he’d gotten so pathetic. He was his own person, damnit, he didn’t need Riku to function. He’d been doing just fine without him, why should it matter that he’d been gone for so long? 

 

Because, honestly, Sora missed him. He missed him a lot. 

 

Still, all the nervous energy waiting was giving him was starting to get on his nerves. He was pretty sure that he’d get nothing done if he tried to write, but what was the harm in trying? He heaved himself up to grab his laptop.

 

He returned to the couch with it, throwing his feet on the coffee table as he booted it up. It only took a few seconds and his latest attempt at writing a script was already pulled up.

 

                                                          EXT. PARK- NIGHT

                                                          We open on a shot of the full moon in the sky. It’s surrounded by stars,  not a cloud in sight. A pan down reveals the park below, 

                                                          with a swing still  swinging-

 

He groaned. What kind of an opening was that? He wasn’t even sure what he wanted to write about at this point. Werewolves? Why the fuck else would he open with a shot of the moon? 

 

He closed the file. 

 

He’d try again once Riku was home. He always wrote better with Riku around to bounce ideas off of, if nothing else. Riku, despite refusing to take a single writing or storytelling class, could find the plot holes in  _ any _ script. It was both impressive and incredibly infuriating at the same time. 

 

Maybe he’d write another romance. Those were always easier to write when Riku was around, too. 

 

Sora tried not to stare at the clock. He failed miserably. It stared back at him, a cruel and unmoving 5:23. 

 

Sora pulled up Riku’s Amazon account in a last ditch effort to make the time go faster. 

 

Two episodes of  _ Good Omens _ later and he wasn’t any less antsy, but at least it was nearing seven o’clock. And he was feeling slightly more open to writing a werewolf movie now. 

 

He didn’t really feel like cooking, so it was going to be a mac and cheese kind of night. Maybe he’d throw some asparagus in the oven to make it seem more like a meal, but even that might be kind of a stretch. 

 

He’d just started boiling the water when the door opened. 

 

Sora all but dropped the box of noodles in his haste to go greet his best friend. 

 

Riku was barely through the door when Sora got to him, throwing his arms around his best friend’s shoulders. 

 

“Hey, Sora,” Riku said, dropping his duffle bag right onto the floor and wrapping his arms tightly around Sora’s waist. Once upon a time, he would have teased Sora for being so clingy, but it seemed like the distance had been hard for both of them, because Riku didn’t even comment on it now. 

 

“Hey,” Sora answered. “I missed you.” 

 

“I missed you, too,” Riku said, a wistful edge in his voice that Sora could barely pick up on. 

 

Sora finally pulled back, taking in the sight of Riku, finally home.

 

The first thing he noticed was that Riku looked like shit. Well, as shit as someone as beautiful as Riku could look, anyways. 

 

His long, silvery hair was an absolute mess, the pathetic remains of bun, with half of it had fallen out, though. Somehow, it looked good on him, which didn’t seem fair to Sora. There were bags under his bright green eyes, but Sora had been expecting that; Riku never slept well the night before he had to travel. 

 

“How was it?” Sora asked. 

 

“It would have been better if you were there,” Riku sighed and Sora’s heart skipped a beat. “But it was still really fun. One of my favorite sets so far.” 

 

Riku was the only acting student who was already getting movie gigs because of course he was. 

 

“Also, I made friends with that cat, so that was nice,” Riku continued. “I left him with the girls I was staying with, so hopefully he’s going to have a happy life. I thought about bringing him back with me, but I’m not sure I could look Vanitas in the eye and tell him I named a cat after him.” 

 

Sora snorted at that. “Were they really that similar?”

 

“Sora, you have no idea,” Riku said, dead serious. 

 

Sora opened his mouth to ask him to elaborate on that, but was cut off by a bubbling sound coming from the kitchen. His eyes widened with the realization of what it was. 

 

“Shit, that’s the mac and cheese-” 

 

Riku’s laugh followed him as he rushed back towards the kitchen. 

 

* * *

 

Unfortunately, life didn’t stop just because Sora was reunited with his best friend, and when 7:30 am rolled around, he rolled out of bed with it. He loved his job, he really did, but god did he wish he could sleep in sometimes. At least he wasn’t opening today. 

 

Thankfully, it was a rather uneventful day at the Chakram. Riku stopped in for a little bit to chat with Sora after he’d sent him several rather pathetic snapchats about how bored he was and how he’d make Riku free coffee if he came in, but had to leave not long after. One of the grad students was beginning to shoot their thesis and of course Riku was going to star in it. Sora had signed up to grip over the weekend, when he wasn’t working. He needed the experience on set, even if he wanted to be a writer. The more he could put on his resume, the better. 

 

It wasn’t until about an hour before the end of Sora’s shift that things started to get interesting. Roxas was in Axel’s office, counting his drawer down, so Sora was alone in the front. 

 

The cafe was empty when Ventus came through the door, looking forlorn. His eyes were red and puffy- was he crying? Sora’s worry was instantaneous. 

 

“Ven, is everything okay?” He asked, not wasting any time on a greeting. 

 

“Not really,” Ventus admitted, his voice raspy. Sora was pretty sure he was trying not to sniffle. “Deathy got out and we can’t find her. Can I put one of these up here?”

 

Deathy, also known as Death Bringer Sixty-Two Hundred (Written Out), was Ventus and Vanitas’ cat. Vanitas had named her, obviously, and they both adored her more than anything. 

 

“Oh no,” Sora said. “I mean yes! You can, I’m just, I’m sorry she got out. How long have you been looking?”

 

“A few hours,” Ventus said. There was a resignation in his voice that Sora didn’t like one bit. “Vanitas is out searching still, but I thought these flyers might help, so I made them and I’m putting them up now.”

 

“Putting what up now?” Axel asked, seemingly materializing out of nowhere next to Sora. The only thing that kept Sora from jumping was years of Axel randomly showing up out of nowhere. 

 

Ventus handed him the poster sadly. 

 

“We’ll help you look,” Axel said, near instantly. “I’ll close the store down and-“

 

He cut himself off, grabbing a marker from the counter and scribbling on the sign.

 

“There,” he said, “Now anyone who tries to stop by will keep an eye out.”

 

Ventus looked like he was gonna cry again. “Axel, you don’t have to do that.” 

 

“Yeah, I do. I love that cat,” Axel said, like it was that simple. He turned towards the back, yelling, “Come on, Roxas. I’m paying you both double to hunt for this cat.”

 

Sora had been planning helping anyways, but he wasn’t about to tell Axel that now. 

 

“Lets go!” He said instead. “We’ll split up, I’ll go with Ven, you two take the East half of town?”

 

Axel nodded. 

 

“Vanitas is somewhere around there, I’ll let him know you’re looking, too. He’ll appreciate it even if he doesn’t act like it,” Ventus said. 

 

Axel snorted at that. “I’ll text Isa and see if he can help, too.” 

 

“You guys are the best,” Ventus said, sniffling now. 

 

Sora dragged him through the door and out to search before he completely started to cry. 

 

It felt like they were searching for hours before they made any developments. They’d spent a good deal of time looking around town and calling “Deathy!” out at the top of their lungs, much to the confusion of the locals. 

 

Ventus kept hanging posters as they went, asking anyone they ran into if they’d seen the poor cat. Unfortunately, no one had, until they stumbled across Aqua. 

 

“Ven!” She called from across the street, jogging over to where he and Sora were taping a poster to a street lamp. 

 

“Hey,” Ven greeted her as she rushed over, wrapping him in a hug. “What are you doing out here? I thought you were helping Terra with his shoot?”

 

“Vanitas called us,” Aqua explained, pulling away. “So Terra called the whole thing off for the day so we could help search.” 

 

“You guys really didn’t have to do that,” Ventus said, but he was beaming at her despite his disapproving tone. “I told him not to tell you guys.” 

 

“Yeah, we did and yeah, I know,” she scoffed, ruffling his hair. “I wish you’d told us yourself. That’s our goddaughter out there. Of course we’re going to help find her.”

 

Sora felt like he was intruding, but he’d finished putting up the flyer, so he tried not to stand too awkwardly while they talked. 

 

Thankfully, Aqua noticed him right about then, so he didn’t have to suffer for long. “Hey, Sora. I heard Axel had all of you out looking, too.”

 

“Yeah!” Sora confirmed. “It’s all hands on deck until Deathy comes home.”

 

Ventus looked like he was gonna cry again. 

 

Aqua’s phone dinged and she checked it, a large grin taking over her expression. “We’ve got a sighting! Terra said that someone spotted Deathy earlier by the Old Mansion.” 

 

“Jeez, that’s closer to Twilight Town than it is your place,” Sora whistled. 

 

“I’ll drive if you guys want to start looking in that area?” Aqua offered.

 

Both Sora and Ventus nodded quickly. “Absolutely!”

 

* * *

 

The drive to Twilight Town was a short one, thankfully, but it was even shorter with Aqua at the wheel. Sora tried not to fear for his life as she slammed the gas, going a good twenty miles over the speed limit. Ventus sat in the front seat and seemed entirely unfazed by Aqua’s driving, eyes peeled out the window for any sign of his cat. 

 

As they passed the woods, Sora’s mind couldn’t help but wander back to his writing dilemma. Would the woods be a good setting to start? What kind of story even started in the woods, anyways-

 

“I texted Vanitas and he said he’s heading this way with Axel and Roxas, too,” Ventus said, interrupting Sora’s thoughts, “So hopefully we’ll be able to cover enough ground. How long had it been since that lady Terra talked to had seen him? I hope she’s-“

 

“Ven,” Aqua cut him off, “We’ll find her, I promise.”

 

“Yeah, don’t worry!” Sora chimed in. “She’s a tough kitty.” 

 

Ventus smiled at him through the rear view mirror. “Yeah, you’re right. Thanks, guys.”

 

When they reached Twilight Town, they immediately were able to spot Terra’s old motorcycle parked by the tram station. 

 

Terra himself wasn’t that far off; they found him in the woods behind the mansion rattling a cat toy. 

 

He waved when he spotted them, standing up straight to give Aqua a quick kiss on the cheek in greeting. 

 

“Hey, guys,” he said.

 

“Good strategy,” Aqua said, nodding towards the cat toy. 

 

“Thanks, I feel like an idiot waving it around,” Terra admitted. 

 

“You kind of look like one,” Aqua told him, laughing as Terra pouted. “But if it works it works.”

 

“It might work!” Ventus helpfully chimed in. 

 

“Oh, yeah, I’m supposed to tell you that Dad’s out looking, too,” Terra told him. 

 

Eraqus was something of a myth to the students of Radiant Gardens University. Legend had it that he’d once been a rock star before settling down to teach children to play piano, guitar, and all sorts of other instruments. Another said that he was actually an undercover government agent, keeping an eye on the school’s sketchy Dean. There was even gossip about his son; some said that he’d adopted Terra during a tour spot in Agrabah, while those who subscribed to the government agent theory said that Terra was in some sort of witness protection program and had to stay with Eraqus for safety purposes. Neither of them ever addressed the rumors, but Sora was still dying to ask one of these days.

 

“Everyone’s out looking,” Terra added. “Keep your head up, Ven, someone’s bound to find her.”

 

Sora’s heart twisted a little at that. It was heartwarming, really, to see all these people up in arms to help Ventus and Vanitas find their cat. He realized how good and caring the friends they had truly were. Sora felt infinitely lucky to be included in a group like that. 

 

“Let’s split back up,” Terra suggested. “I sent Riku that way to try and cover more ground.”

 

“I’ll head that way!” Sora said, entirely aware of how overly eager he sounded. He felt a little bad for ditching Ventus, but he hadn’t even realized that Riku was out searching, too. Then again, it made sense, since Riku had been working on Terra’s thesis shoot. Of course he’d offer to help. 

 

“Good plan,” Aqua nodded. 

 

Terra pointed out the general direction of where Riku had wandered off to and Sora took off, combing the forest for Deathy while he was at it. Unfortunately, there was no sign of the cat, but he did see a familiar head of silver hair up ahead. 

 

“Riku!” he called out. 

 

Riku turned, waving at him. “Hey, Sora. You out searching, too?”

 

“Yeah,” Sora answered. “Axel’s paying us all double to help, even though we were going to anyways.” 

 

“That’s awesome,” Riku laughed, running a hand through his hair. “Heard anything from the others yet.”

 

Sora shook his head. “No, but I just left Ven and Aqua. None of us have seen anything yet.” 

 

Riku sighed. “The search continues, then.”

 

And it continue it did- for hours. Long after the sun had set, Riku and Sora were still out searching the forest, desperately calling for this stupid cat. The forest got infinitely creepier (which just made Sora’s fingers itch with the need to write a horror scene, but he didn’t know what he could even do with that) with each passing second since the sun had bid them its goodbyes, but Sora stuck close to Riku’s side and tried to ignore the shadows moving in the corners of his eyes. 

 

“She’s a black cat,” Riku finally moaned when the clock was getting close to midnight, “This is hopeless.” 

 

Sora tried not to agree with him. But they’d been out for at least eight hours now and, honestly, he was kind of starving at this point, and his eyes hurt from squinting in the dark. But one of them had to remain hopeful, for their friends’ sake, so he just sighed. “She’s out here. We’ve gotta be close by now.” 

 

Riku was kind enough to  _ not _ mention that Sora had said this several times now. 

 

A soft buzzing sound broke into the night, making them both jump slightly in surprise. 

 

“It’s mine,” Riku murmured as he pulled out his phone, the bright light of his home screen lighting his face. “Oh thank god.” 

 

“Did they find her?” Sora asked, clamouring over to try and see the message. 

 

“Ventus found her eating garbage in the tunnels,” Riku confirmed. “God, she’s just like her dad.” 

 

“Better not let Vanitas hear you say that,” Sora teased, relief pouring over him at the realization that they could finally go home. 

 

Riku looked at him and shrugged. “I meant Ventus.”

 

“No you didn’t,” Sora said, but he laughed anyways.  

 

Riku shrugged. “Maybe. Now, let’s get a move on, Aqua said she’ll give us a ride home.” 

 

Trudging back now, with the forest slowly thinning out around them and hearts filled with the relief of a mission completed and a happy end, the forest didn’t seem so spooky anymore. 

 

And it was when they were walking back towards the parking lot that he looked up at Riku, seeing the moonshine hitting his hair and catching on his eyes, making them glow a bright and almost unnatural green, that he was struck with a thought. Divine inspiration, even. 

 

“Oh my god!” He exclaimed, grabbing at his pockets to get his phone. He had to write this down- now- before he forgot again. 

 

“What?” Riku asked, looking completely lost as Sora began typing like a madman. 

 

“I’ve got it! I know what I’m going to write!” Sora half shouted, feeling like he was on cloud 9 as he shoved his phone back in his pocket, grabbing Riku’s hands in his as he all but jumped with glee. 

 

Riku caught on quickly, matching Sora’s excitement in support. “Really? That’s awesome, Sora! What’s your idea?”

 

“It’s gonna be, like, this werewolf movie, right? But those are super overdone nowadays but you know what  _ hasn't _ been done before?” Sora talked at a thousand miles per hour, but he could only hope Riku was following him. “Werewolf romcoms! I’ve never seen a werewolf romcom before!”

 

“Oh my god, Sora,” Riku laughed, “You have to write this. Please, I’m begging you.” 

 

“And you can be the werewolf!” Sora continued with glee, grinning from ear to ear. “You already kinda look like one, just not hairy enough. But I can work with that.”

 

“Thanks, I think?” Riku said. 

 

Sora let go of one of Riku’s hands, dragging him faster to the parking lot by the one he still held. “Come on! I wanna get home and start this!” 

 

* * *

 

Hours later, when Sora’s excitement had worn off and writing became difficult, he found himself out on their balcony, elbows leaning against the railing and a heaviness in his heart. 

 

When Sora looked to the stars, he couldn’t help but feel a little sad. 

 

He remembered being eight years old and on the Islands, thinking that the sky was infinite. He remembered how it was filled with millions of stars, sparkling bright enough to cast shadows on the ground around him. He remembered feeling infinitely small against the backdrop of the entire universe, knowing that he was nothing but a spec in the grand scheme of things, but thankful to have a moment to enjoy the stars while he lived his small, insignificant life. 

 

He’d always told Riku that if they blinked, the stars would twinkle just for them, but Riku always called him childish for that. Riku had thought he was hot shit, back then.

 

Now, when he looked up from their tiny apartment balcony, there were so few that he thought that if he tried hard enough, he could probably count all of them. The wind didn’t feel as real as the sea breeze always had on his skin and the sky was smaller. It twisted his heart in an uncomfortable, sad way that made him just want to go back inside and forget he’d come out here in the first place. 

 

He wondered how he’d feel now, if he went back to the Island. It had been at least two years since he’d been home, since they’d started renting this apartment. He wondered if the stars would be as bright if he looked at them from those shores now, if they’d ever live up to his memories again. He wasn’t sure that he wanted to find out. 

 

The glass door slid open behind him. 

 

“Sora?” Riku asked, quiet enough that Sora could barely hear him. Maybe he was worried about startling him. The thought made Sora want to laugh. “What are you doing out here? It’s freezing.”

 

Sora leaned harder on the railing, elbows digging into the cold metal. “I lost track of time trying to write.” 

 

“Trying?” Riku repeated, coming to stand next to him.

 

“Nothing was coming out right,” Sora sighed. “I thought maybe if I looked at the stars, it would help.”

 

Riku cast his gaze upwards. He was silent for a moment before he said, “Is it just me or do the stars seem dimmer here?”

 

Sora’s laugh was quiet, but real. “That’s what I was thinking.” 

 

He could see Riku looking at him out of the corner of his eye. “You’re shivering.”

 

Sora blinked in surprise. He really hadn’t noticed. “Oh.”

 

The next thing he knew, Riku was shrugging his jacket off and draping it over Sora’s shoulders. 

 

Sora pulled it tight around himself, trying to ignore how badly he felt like crying at the mixture of nostalgia and Riku’s kindness. He shoved it down, putting the feeling in another box and locking it away to deal with some other time. 

 

“Thanks,” he said. 

 

“Of course,” Riku said, like it was the simplest thing in the world. To him, it probably was. He was kind like that. 

 

It was impossible to focus on the stars now that Riku was here, but Sora didn’t mind. He’d only come out here to clear his mind, after all, and to take a break, and really, it was easier to relax with Riku here with him. 

 

Sora leaned against him, leaning his head on Riku’s shoulder. Years ago, he would have been scared to do this, worried that Riku would catch onto his feelings for him. But it had been years now and Riku was none the wiser to his feelings, so Sora had given up on worrying about it.

 

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if Riku knew. He forced that thought away, though. He’d deal with it another time. 

 

“Hey, Riku?”

 

“Hm?” Riku hummed. 

 

“Do you ever miss the Islands?” Sora asked, wistful. 

 

Riku’s reaction was instantaneous; Sora could feel him stiffen next to him and for a moment regretted asking, but Riku relaxed just as quickly.

 

“No. Yes. Sometimes,” Riku admitted, an edge creeping into his voice. “I don’t know.”

 

Sora hummed quietly. “I miss the waves.”

 

Riku’s laughter was quiet, but it was still the sweetest sound Sora had ever heard as it filled the night around them. He always had the most beautiful laugh. 

 

“Me too. Bet if I tried to surf them now I’d get knocked flat on my ass, though,” Riku said, leaning his head on top of Sora’s as he spoke. Sora tried to ignore the way his heart rate picked up exponentially. 

 

“Probably not,” he disagreed with a half snort, “You were always the best surfer out of all of us.”

 

“Yeah, but that wasn’t exactly a contest,” Riku pointed out.

 

“Hey!” Sora protested, pouting without realizing it, “I wasn’t  _ that _ bad.” 

 

“Sora, I had to save you from drowning on a nearly daily basis,” Riku reminded him. It was only half true, but Sora kept pouting anyways. He’d only really been in danger of actually drowning once or twice, but he didn’t think Riku was ever going to let it go. 

 

“Nu-uh,” Sora mumbled, because all the nostalgia was starting to make him feel childish. 

 

“Yuh-huh,” Riku said back, lifting his head slightly and bumping it back down against Sora’s, as if he could knock some sense into him. 

 

Something warm bubbled in Sora’s chest. “Real mature.”

 

“You started it.” 

 

Sora shrugged. 

 

Silence fell again, or it was as close to silence as you could get in a college town on a Friday night. Cars drove past, revving their engines. Somewhere in the distance, a drunk was cackling at something their friend said. 

 

“Sounds like someone’s having fun,” Riku commented. “I forgot how noisy this place is, even in the summer.” 

 

“It’s awful,” Sora agreed. He hated the noise sometimes, the cars and the people and the strong winds, especially when he was desperately trying to sleep, but he didn’t mind as much when Riku was here. Nothing seemed as bad when Riku was by his side. “Still not as bad as the school year, though.”

 

Riku hummed in response. Sora could feel the way it moved through his throat and shoulders, closing his eyes. 

 

Maybe it was time to have a little courage, after all. Maybe once it was off his chest, he’d finally be able to move on. 

 

He’d given himself this pep talk a million times, but it never went anywhere. Sora could talk himself up all he wanted, but every time he opened his mouth to say it, to actually tell Riku how he felt, he was speechless. It was a curse. 

 

A leap of faith was all it was. But the chasm between him and the truth was a large one, so deep he couldn’t see the bottom. Best case scenario, Riku agreed to never speak about it again and they just moved on with their lives. Worst case scenario… Sora didn’t even want to think about that. He wanted to think he was just being over-dramatic about it, but he was scared. He couldn’t lose Riku. 

 

Riku shifted slightly next to him, ripping Sora from his thoughts. 

 

“What are you thinking about?” he asked. 

 

“How annoying it is that I’m in love with you,” Sora answered without thinking. 

 

It wasn’t until Riku was pulling away from him that he even realized what he said. 

 

_ Shit.  _

 

Riku was staring at him, wide eyed like a deer caught in headlights, and Sora’s heart sank. 

 

Sora usually thought of himself as pretty brave. He wasn’t scared of much, really, and he always forced it back when he was scared. 

 

Right now, though, he’d never been more terrified. Faced with the realization of what he’d done, and of how he was about to lose his best friend because of it, he couldn’t be brave. 

 

“That’s not what I meant to say,” he said, words spilling from his mouth at a hundred miles per hour as he tried to backtrack, “I mean, it’s true, and like, I’ve kind of been in love with you for six years now but I didn’t mean to just drop it out of nowhere at all, actually I didn’t really want to tell you at all, but we’re here now and-“

 

“Sora” Riku said. 

 

“And, wow, I’m really rambling here, but can we just forget I ever said anything? Like I know you’re, like, way out of my league and all that, Mr. Movie Star and all, so if we could just-“

 

“ _ Sora _ ,” Riku said, forcefully enough this time to actually shut Sora up. 

 

The next thing he knew, Riku was leaning down as Sora’s eyes widened, and then he was kissing him. 

 

Riku’s lips were impossibly soft against his and, really, it was a chaste kiss, over before it had even begun, but Sora had never felt more alive than he did in those three seconds. He’d also never felt more confused in his entire life. 

 

“You know, I never thought I’d get to actually do that,” Riku said, so, so casually. As if he hadn’t just personally shattered everything Sora had thought he’d known into a thousand pieces. 

 

His casual demeanor was given away, however, when he tried to lean against the balcony and nearly ate shit when his arm slipped right off it. 

 

Despite his surprise, Sora still laughed, reaching out to help him on instinct, even though Riku had already steadied himself. Instead of grabbing at his arm, however, his hand found Riku’s, holding it tight. It was warm against the cold night, a lifeline for Sora to hold onto.

 

“Thanks,” Riku said, his tone sheepish, even though Sora really hadn’t done anything to help him at all. 

 

“So,” was still all Sora could manage to say. “What was that?” 

 

“Long story short?” Riku said, “I love you, too, Sora. I always have.” 

 

“What,” Sora said.

 

Riku’s eyebrows furrowed. “Sora are you listening to me?”

 

“I am,” Sora assured him, quickly, trying to wrap his head around what just happened fast enough so that he could answer with something other than a lame  _ What _ and, preferably, get to kiss Riku again. “I just wasn’t expecting that.” 

 

Riku shrugged. “I couldn’t figure out how else to shut you up long enough to say it.” 

 

Sora tried to glare at him, but it was impossible. 

 

“Now, come on, let’s go back inside. It’s cold and I want to make hot chocolate,” Riku said. 

 

He pressed a kiss to Sora’s forehead before he turned to go inside, pausing at the door as Sora stared at him. 

 

“Yeah, okay,” Sora said, a grin tugging at his lips as he crossed the small balcony. “Hot cocoa sounds great.” 

 

But he stopped in front of the door and in front of Riku. 

 

“Kiss me again,” he said. 

 

Riku seemed more than happy to oblige. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> hey y'all! a few days ago the thought for the last scene hit me like a sack of bricks and i just had to write an entire au about it apparently wlkdjfvvf
> 
> anyways!!!thanks for reading this far!!! i hope u enjoyed it!! if u did, pls let me know, kudos, comment, all that jazz. it really makes my whole year every time!!!
> 
> also, hmu on twitter for more feral screaming about soriku and the likes [here!!](https://twitter.com/vanitashours)
> 
> have a great day!!


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